I Love Books (sometimes I judge a book by its cover)

The first book I remember loving was The Twits by Roald Dahl. I still love The Twits, along with many of Roald Dahl’s other stories. (Matilda is a very close second).

There’s nothing better than becoming so engrossed in a book that you cannot put it down… sometimes it’s almost impossible to do so. My husband barely reads for pleasure, so when I do he spends a lot of time trying to talk to me. Ha ha. Consequently I have to read when I’m alone, which is fine. Reading is the only thing I miss about taking public transport to work, that 1 hour each morning listening to my iPod and reading my book on the metro… Nostalgia is a funny thing, I actually hated public transport when I had to use it.

There is no book shelf in my house, I realise at the age of 34 this is quite ridiculous and actually a bit embarrassing. Where are my books kept? Well, most of them are still at my parents house, some are in a box . . and I have recently read books in a cupboard. Even writing this makes me feel sad. Next on my list of future purchases is a book shelf.

Here is a list of the books I’ve read and loved the most. The first one is my favourite, but the rest are not in order of preference. That’s too hard, I tried but I couldn’t do it.

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera. One of my favourite people in the world recommended this book to me. Incidentally, it’s the only book I’ve also read in French that I didn’t study at school or university. I own 5 copies of this book. Different editions. That’s how much I love it. I told my cousin to read it. He did (and also loved it), a few years later a girl he met was reading it and they struck up a conversation about it… They used a hardback copy as their guest book at their amazing wedding last summer.

2. Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami I finished this so quickly the first time I read it, when I got to the end I felt like reading it again straightaway.

3. Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk The film is as good as the book… that rarely happens.

5. Me Talk Pretty Someday – David Sedaris I picked this collection of essays off the shelf in Barnes & Noble, East 86th Street, NYC, whilst visiting my cousin who is referenced earlier… A woman came over to me and said “You must buy this book. It’s amazing” So I did, and she was right.

6. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh – Michael Chabon I found it very hard to pick between this and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – also by Michael Chabon.

8. Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts Based on a true story, it’s long but it’s worth every minute of your time.

9. How To Be a Woman – Caitlin Moran Non-fiction memoir. I couldn’t control my laughter in certain parts of this. SO good.

10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky I’m a sucker for a coming-of-age Salinger type of book.

11. Immortality – Milan Kundera My favourite Kundera books could make for another good list…

This list could go on and on. I tried to stop at 10, but whilst re-reading I realised I had two number 3’s and I can’t bring myself to delete any of them. Number 12 would be One Day by David Nicholls. I can’t stop.

I’d love to know if you’ve read any of these, or what would feature in a list of your favourite books… tell me!